Sharing your Joys and struggles with Spanish
I would like to encourage people here to share their joys and struggles in learning Spanish and wherever possible any strategies they are using to help them overcome their difficulties.
Note for Heidita: Marianne has agreed to act as a Monitor for this thread and so keep a watchful eye on the posts that people are submitting.
I love learning Spanish and have areas of strength and weakness like everyone else. I am finding that sentence construction is becoming much easier as I am learning how the Spanish express their thoughts and ideas but I am still learning lol . I find Por and Para relatively easy and the subjunctive mood is becoming much easier.
However I do struggle with indirect object pronouns and observe closely how fluent and advanced users use these pronouns so that I can better understand their function and use.Many complex verb constructions using compound tenses eg: habría comido still trip me up and I am still learning idiomatic expresssions and regional slang. I have just read Patch's great Post and remebered another area I need to develop my understanding of gustar lol (I hope I dont need to add much more lol )
17 Answers
My greatest joy of Spanish so far is being able to converse with people. I am a predominantley white American, therefore when I go to restaraunts like Fruty Coma and Casa Colombia, they start speaking English to me. When I am able to reply in Spanish, I love the look of suprise on their faces. It isnt just una más cerveza either (even though I do use it =p). It is also an awesome feeling when you can help people using your knowledge of another language.
Just the other day, I was inside the main building paying my rent for my apartment. There was a man inside who was seriously struggling to communicate with the lady at the desk. She is very nice, but regardless of hospitality, the situation was looking dire. So, with all confidence I could muster in hand, I approached the desk and asked the man if he would prefer to speak to me in Spanish, and I could translate. He looked at me beaming, and we went on to speak of moneygrams and other such things. I had a blast doing it, and the lady even gave me an ice cream bar for being so helpful! =p
Little experiences like this make me love languages, and my goal is to be fluent in Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and maybe Egyptian Arabic. Nothing let's you see the true beauty of the world until you can say one word 7 different ways.
I am coming at this question from a teacher's perspective.
Many students have a terrible time actually speaking without thinking. Depending on where you are in your Spanish studies, you might find it helpful to try to spend a solid amount of time just speaking Spanish to yourself.
For example, if you are fairly new in Spanish, set your goal as soemthing like "I will say five consecutive sentences in Spanish". They may be as simple as "Me llamo...", "me gusta...", "no me gusta...", necesito..." and "hoy tengo que..."
If you are more advanced, you might set a goal of a certain amount of time. For example, "for the next minute I will speak continually in Spanish."
Obviously, if you are quite advanced you can increase the length to time ("for the next day I will speak nothing but Spanish"!!!)
I know it may sound strange to be speaking Spanish to yourself, but - unless you have someone to speak with - there may be no option.
Either alone or with someone else, try to speak as much Spanish as possible. Chances are you are doing plenty of reading and writing exercises (and if you're not - be sure to include them.)
Go for it!!
You've edited your post, so I now know that you are fairly advanced.
For those more complex structures, say aloud the correct responses. And continue to speak your original sentences, attempting to incorporate the challenging areas. For example, since you know "Le dije que..." is "I told him that...", try saying (aloud) a series of that type of structure.
Students learn languages in different ways, but I have never met a student who did not benefit from speaking aloud.
Joys:-
Saying something to a native speaker and having them understand me without that "language-pause" Wow - this language learning stuff really works!
3 years ago I met 3 women from Barcelona at a language-exchange group.
Ellas - ¿Por qué aprendes español?
Yo - Eh ..... pues, ¿cuántos ingleses conocéis que pueden hablar otro idioma?
They thought that was hilarious (my one and only joke)
Struggles
........ 3 minutes later (trying to say that sometimes Scottish people don't like English people)
a veces ellos no nos gus ..... nosotros ...... a nosotros no les gust .... digo ...... a ellos no les gust .....
I gave up - leaving 3 Spanish women thinking "why has the Englishman gone crazy?"
Strategy
I want to learn "gustar" before I am 99 years old.
I think the biggest joy I've had so far was understanding almost every word in a statement by Heidita in a Saturday Skype a while back. It wasn't much and I know she was speaking about one third her normal speed but it was such an experience. I would like to add that last weekend on a long road trip with my wife, she had me print out a list of flashcard words and quizzed me while I drove. It not only passed the time but was a great way to learn and remember.
I studied spanish in high school over 25 years ago, because a foreign language class was required. I studied to pass tests, did okay, and then forgot all of it.
Now I like to travel throughout latin America, because I've more recently become an avid bird-watcher, and most of the best birds are found where Spanish is spoken (y creo que las aves hablan español 
)
I found that learning Spanish all over again is just as hard as the first time, except that this time I have the Internet. With lots of resources for reading, listening, and this wonderful site (spanishdict.com), I can switch gears whenever I get frustrated. Nothing stops me from spending useful time learning.
I'm reading from
- http://www.veintemundos.com/en/ (magazine)
- http://www.prensa.com (panamanian newspaper)
- http://www.bowdoin.edu/~eyepes/newgr/index.html (interactive exercises)
and whatever else I find searching the Internet. I have a birding trip coming up next week to Panama - I'm so excited (sobre conocer nuevos amigos que hablan español y nuevas aves)!!
I am struggling right now. I guess I am at a plateau. The verb tenses, direct objects, and indirect objects are just not sinking in. I use the translator too much. I know this happens. I am waiting to move past it, but I am still stuck in present, preterit and past. Oh, well. I can't get past Spanish 2 and I don't even know all that. I'll keep trying.
My biggest struggle is 'los verbos'. I bought a book of spanish verbs and have been reviewing it often. I will redo some of the verb lessons on this site, which will surely help.
I made homemade note cards and that helped me learn spanish fairly quickly
My biggest struggle with Spanish is that I am learning French too ,so it's hard for me to study the both languages at the same time ,especially that I have notice that I have forgot almost everything I had learned about French I was an advanced French speaker now I think that I have to study French from the beginning like a beginner 
,
But the thing that make me determined to learn Spanish the the unique accent of Spanish I really like the Spanish words specially when the word contain the letter Eñe on it . 
Well I sometimes think I´m going backwards instead of forwards then I pick up a local Spanish newspaper and I am surprised at how much I understand. My big problem was having 4 tenses of Subjunctive Mood thrown at me all at once. I´ve just about worked out when to use which tense - but learning the verbs/endings - NUNCA! There´s just so much and I have become completely confused with Indicativo work. All my instruction at weekly classes is in Spanish - miss it and you´re lost. Also because I live in the Andalucían countryside of Southern Spain the Spanish here is very different to say the big cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla etc. For example there is no "s", they drop the endings of the words - and sometimes the beginning - and sometimes a complete sentence can be constructed without using a single verb! However I find the lessons and learning videos here on SD very helpful and I constantly refer to them for revision or to clear up something I have not understood in class. Is this the kind of response you are looking for Feliz?
My struggle has always been with listening to native Spanish speakers, unless they speak slower. As I've improved, so has my listening ability, but I soon realised that it's not possible to translate everything in my head and still have time to follow the conversation.
My recent joy though, was a trip to Spain where I met with a whole bunch of locals at a big party. Obviously I could not follow the standard 5 conversations that were going on at the same time, but I interacted with the locals and had many lengthy conversations on a one-to-one basis.
I love the ideal of learning Spanish - and I really love the ideal of being able to communicte with somoeone in a different language - it fascinates me.
My first beginning studying Spanish was using CD's and listening to them in my car - then, I joined SpanishDict, which has helped me tremendously!! Every night when I get home from work, I spend about an hour studying my next lesson, or LoMas TV.
Struggles I have - as other people have mentioned - conjucating verbs. I have a lot of trouble with this - I can read a lot of Spanish, but often miss the verb conjucation, so I kind of miss what they are exactly talking about.
Another struggle is people talking soooooooo fast. I recently took a business trip to Mexico, and I figured that since I know a lot of Spanish words, that I would be able to understand what's being said around me. But what surprised me is when someone talks, they talk soooo fast, and I found myself saying "Habla mas despacio, por favor" - so I am hoping that with more practice, I will be able to understand "faster".
He elegido un lema! "No me doy por vencido!" Cuando las cosas de la lengua andaban mal, repetiría mi lema, "No me doy por vencido!" He notado que hay muchos altibajos en este reto. Perseverancia, es lo que supera todo.
I have chosen a motto, "I will not give up!" When things regarding the language were going bad, I would repeat my motto! "I will not give up!"I have noticed that there are many ups and downs in this challenge. Perserverance is what trumps everything!
Para mi el intento de hablar español fue anormal. Tenía que forzarme para supera la timidez.. He encontrado que en la gran mayoría de los casos, la gente con quien hablaba feueron muy amable y entusiasmada con mi esfuerzos. Cada cumplido, y habí muchos, me dio ánimo para seguir. El resultado es que estoy donde estoy y eso es mi historia.
For me trying to speak Spanish was abnormal. I had to force myself in order to overcome my shyness. I found that in the great majority of cases, the people with whom I spoke were really nice, and enthusiastic over my efforts. Each compliment, and there were many, motivated me to continue. The result is that I am where I am, and that is my story.
The struggle is finding words and poetry and life's stories that I wish I could FULLY translate into Spanish. The Joy is that one day, one day I will. In the mean time, baby steps; step ahead, fall back, fall back; step ahead, etc.
It's a bit long but I think it's one of MANY wonderful experiences of seeing it through to the end!! Just do a search on encouragement or encouragement quotes!
How to See the Light, When Life's Moments Are at Their Darkest! By Chone Ealy (from the internet)
We all have had some setbacks at some point in our lives. During these moments, it sometimes certainly seems that no one is there at your side! For some, that time may be right at this present moment! Some days really feel like the end is near! Many Americans are feeling the crunch of the economy coming down on them. There are even people who may had several glimpses of bad luck hanging around, like a lightning storm over their head. As we know, life can be full of joy as well as disappointment!
Whether you are struggling financially, suffering from impoverishment, having family difficulties, going through a divorce, fighting a medical crisis, searching for employment with no success, battling adolescent issues with your teenager, recovering from a deceased loved one, fighting in combat, or just trying to reach your goals in life, adversity is guaranteed to find you! I learned in psychology that we all need stress!
There is Good Stress and Bad Stress! For, without the stress, success will not be possible! Also, while attending The U.S. Army Airborne School, in Ft. Benning, Georgia I was taught that, the most important part of jumping out of an airplane is, "Landing". The same is true in life! No matter how many times you may fall, the way that you land is going to determine your outcome!
So, However challenging, unpleasant, or fruitless life may be, we have got to stay focused! I sincerely believe that there is light at the end of our journey! At times, it does seem that blindness from the dark may be obscuring your view from the path of success. Do you feel like you are constantly being defeated on the playing field of life? If so, it's time to take a time-out, regroup, write down things that haven't worked thus far, benchmark other people who had a similar situation, formulate a new strategy based on things that actually worked, and finally, put the plan into action.
There are different strokes for different folks, but when tribulation introduces itself in your life, always look it in the face, and see it through to the end! A strong finish is more important than how you start!
For the person who may need a few words of encouragement, a positive notion to keep their dreams alive, or someone, who may be about to thrown in the towel, just remember that you are the light that we all look to!
